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victor lindelof

Kalidou Koulibaly has established himself as one of the best centre-backs around in recent season with his impressive performances with Napoli.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs major defensive reinforcements this summer, as it’s been widely reported on. A defensive pairing of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones doesn’t frighten many attackers, and success is built from the back with a decent foundation – As well the Norwegian knows.

In what is going to be a defining window at Old Trafford, a high class and strong defender is going to be high on the priority list.

The 27-year-old has a strong passing game amongst other attributes, which would be perfect for Solskjaer’s plan of turning defence into attack with his own brand of attacking football. Carlo Ancelotti recently described the defender as one of the best in the world, so his talent is there for all to see and is no wonder United are trying to get him signed up as soon as possible.

He would also come with a wealth of experience under his belt having played Champions League football and featured in a very exciting Napoli side in Serie A.

The Red Devils can not gamble on a defender with potential, they have that already in Victor Lindelof. Solskjaer needs a player that can bring the Swede on, potentially pairing him up with Koulibaly who is entering his peak years could be a stroke of genius if Ole can pull it off.

Man United fans, what do you make of Koulibaly – would he welcomed addition to Old Trafford?

Well, the Premier League season as finally come to a close, it was a nail-biting season for some fans, and it came down to the last game to decide who became Premier League champions.

However, if you’re a Manchester United fan, like myself there was nothing to celebrate, in fact, it was a dreadful season, to say the least. After witnessing an utter shambles in the last match of the season at Old Trafford against relegated Cardiff City, it’s clear to see that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a massive rebuilding job on his hands.

The team needs a massive clear out, there’s a lot of deadwood within that Manchester United team, from back to front, and there are players within the first team that aren’t quite good enough. The defence is shocking, three of the defenders who played in our last game were terrible, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Ashley Young have simply not been good enough and Ole needs to move them on, recruiting a right back and a centre back to partner Victor Lindelof.

Then there’s the midfield…Paul Pogba gets a lot of stick off the fans which I’ve heard first hand myself. Yes, he’s been inconsistent but it’s not entirely his fault. In my opinion and many Manchester United fans will probably disagree with me, Pogba is a talent but he needs good players around him.

Unfortunately, with Ander Herrera leaving on a free, he hasn’t got good players around him, and I don’t feel Pogba can carry a team on his own.

Just look at our neighbours Manchester City, their midfield consists of four very good players. I want Pogba to stay put and for Ole to build the team around him, recruit one or two creative midfielders to help Pogba and to take the pressure off him.

Scott McTominay isn’t good enough to play in the first team, and Nemanja Matic is defensive, Fred and Andreas Pereira need to step up to the plate. With Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial upfront and the likes of Mason Greenwood coming through the ranks, if these three starts firing then the attack isn’t too bad, although I’d move Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez on and cash in on them.

The other factor is that the players aren’t fit enough to play the style of football Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants his players to play. There looked burnt out, so first and foremost Ole needs to get the players fitness up to standards where they can maintain fast and attacking football.

Solskjaer will no doubt need to replace departing and departed players such as Herrera and possibly Juan Mata, with rumours circulating about Pogba’s future, Ole may need to replace him.

There’s no doubting that the job Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as got is a massive job, and from what I witnessed at Old Trafford on the final game of the season the rebuilding process is going to take three years. I’m just hoping that the hierarchy at Manchester United stick with Ole, and back him by not becoming a club where we sack are managers willy nilly.

Furthermore, I also worry with Ed Woodward in charge at the club, that Manchester United will never progress. The only way that will happen is if Ed Woodward is sacked, and again I can’t see that happening unless the Saudi Arabia royal family buy the club. Then maybe they will sack Ed Woodward… but one can only dream.

As the season draws to a close, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will already have one eye firmly on the transfer window, where he’ll be looking to strengthen the squad.

One area, in particular, he’ll be looking to rebuild and strengthen is the leaky defence. One person Solskjaer will be looking to recruit is Benfica’s highly rated young prospect Ruben Dias.

However, with Juventus also keeping a close eye on the Portuguese wonder kid, Manchester United will have to battle it out with the Old Lady, who have recently secured their eighth successive Serie A title, to secure Ruben Dias signature.

The 21-year-old defender has been a stand out performer this season for Benfica. Having scored four goals, and two assists in 45 appearances this season for Benfica. It’s no surprise that this young defender is valued at 28m by transfermarkt and, has caught the eye of both Man Utd and Juventus.

Dias is contracted to Benfica until 2023 only having penned a new contract at the start of the season. The defender loves to play a short pass out of the defence, however, his concentration within a game can often let him down. This will get better with age as will his tackling, with Dias prone to fouling often with a little over-eagerness.

The Red Devils may already have the edge with Benfica after, they allowed Victor Lindelof to transfer to the North West last summer under Jose Mourinho. The Swedish centre-back has flourished this year and United fans can start to see a glimpse of what kind of defender he can be, they’ll hopefully be getting the same from Dias.

Juventus are looking to replace ageing defenders, such as Giorgio Chiellini, if Dias decides to go Juventus he’ll be alongside some seasoned defenders who will bring him along. Manchester United need an experienced commanding defender to play alongside Lindelof, but can a Dias/Lindelof partnership work and, has he got the attributes Manchester United need in a defender?

There’s mounting pressure on the Portuguese boss, which hasn’t helped with back to back defeats and United suffering their worse start to a Premier League campaign since the maiden year.

However, Sir Alex Ferguson turned that season around and the Red Devils ended up lifting the trophy.

Indeed the teams were nowhere near as strong back then as they are now.

If Jose Mourinho is to turn things around, then a tie against what should be a fatigued Burnley side could be the perfect game for him.

With Phil Jones out injured it seems a three-way tie for the two starting spots in the United defence.

Mourinho has some rebuilding to do in terms of confidence to his defenders, after openly chasing a plethora of new centre-backs during the past summer window – this would have surely sent out a message to his players, that he didn’t deem them good enough for a starting berth.

Really us as fans want to see this pool of defenders roll their sleeves up and prove a point, but after displays in the last two matches, it seems to be having a knock-on effect.

Let me know if you agree with my pairing for Burnley…

ERIC BAILLY

The defender seemed to have completely lost the plot against Brighton and seemed shaken and not fully with it.

Indeed, Bailly is a rock of a defender on his day.

In recent times he seems to be out of favour with Mourinho, but a solid display can get him back into the first-team picture.

VICTOR LINDELOF

The Swede seemed to grow as the season went on last year and impressed in the World Cup.

He looks a good talent but lacks confidence at present.

A partnership of Bailly and Lindelof is United’s best option up until the January window and playing these two week in, week out can only benefit the team and each other.